Oklahoma Teen Allegedly Defrauded a Car Dealership Out of Almost $100,000

Though car dealerships often get the short straw when it comes to customer trust, most are legitimate businesses that aren’t out to rip off unsuspecting customers. An Oklahoma teen recently flipped the script on that narrative and is accused of defrauding an Oklahoma City dealer out of almost $100,000.

Zachry Brent Bailey, 19 years old, allegedly made transfers on two auto loan accounts to make it seem like he owed much less on the loans than he really did. In mid-April, Bailey approached the dealership with an Acura MDX, and when the store ran the numbers, it found that he only owed $1,713.23. They appraised the SUV at $48,000 and cut a $46,272.97 check for the difference. A couple of weeks later, he returned to the dealership to sell a 2023 Toyota Tundra, and the dealer again found that he owed a tiny amount on the loan, just $2,244. The truck netted Bailey a check for $64,256. 

Bailey’s scam involved fraudulent transfers that reduced the loans’ payoff amount. A few days later, the transfers reversed, and the loans returned to their full glory.  Lenders won’t release a title until the lien is paid in full, so the dealer was left with two piles of debt to deal with. 

If you’re going to run a six-figure scam on a business with meticulous records like a car dealership, it’s a bad idea to use your real name, and it’s even stupider that Bailey chose cars as his weapon of choice. The mountains of paperwork and documentation that change hands when a car is sold make it awfully hard to pull a fast one, especially with a car dealership as the mark. 

Bailey’s facing felony charges for this crime, but he’s got a lot more going on than scamming car dealers. Police said he could have been impersonating a police officer, and he was on the radars of officials in other states for impersonating a doctor.  

[Image: University of College via Shutterstock]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.